Cartoon of the Week: A farting unicorn causing drama between Elon Musk and a potter

When it comes to love, it seems that possession is one of the things that people fight over. And that not only concerns regular people but also superhumans, like the genius type!

Tesla CEO Elon Musk seems to have fallen in love with a cartoon of a farting unicorn. Tom Edwards, the potter of the graphic, was at first thrilled to know that Musk was fan of his art, until he found out that the CEO is refusing to give him credit and is using a copy without permission.

It all started when back in February 2017, Elon Musk tweeted a photo of a mug featuring a drawing of that unicorn farting electricity. He even called it ‘maybe my favorite mug ever’ leading to a bump in sales from all over the world.

Edwards’s delight didn’t last long as, after a month, Musk promoted Tesla’s new ‘sketch pad’ using a copy of this unicorn. The company also decided to use it in a Christmas message. Many thought that Musk was the one who drew the cartoon and that was what irked Edwards.

“It’s part of their branding now,” Edwards said in an interview. “I love the fact that it’s in the cars, but I just want them to do the right thing and pay me adequately for it. Elon Musk can be a hero for standing up for artists’ rights.”

The drama continues with Musk stating that he does care for artists’ rights and that Edwards should be grateful for the attention. Even Edwards’s daughter was involved in the back-and-forth.

Who could know that a farting unicorn would end up at the center of a copyright storm?

I am a marketer and social media junkie. I work to optimise eXo’s online brand with content, social media technologies and digital marketing.
I mainly write cartoons but I am also a big fan of topics related to internal communications in the digital workplace.
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